
SACRAMENTO -- The Miami Heat rolled into Sacramento without Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and still managed to hand the Kings their 21st home loss of the season on Friday night. Playing without DeMarcus Cousins for the 13th time this season, the Kings fell behind early and never recovered. The Heat shot the lights out on their way to a 112-106 victory at Sleep Train Arena.
Gerald Green went off for a game-high 30 points, including 20 before the intermission. The veteran wing started for Wade and shot 11-for-18 from the field and 5-of-9 from long range but sat most of the fourth quarter as the Kings rallied.
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Luol Deng hit for 17 points, including a big 3-pointer late. The former All-Star dished out four assists to help the Heat strengthen their position in the Eastern Conference playoff standings.
Goran Dragic added 18 points and seven assists. Rookie Justise Winslow added 12 points and five rebounds, while former Kings big man Hassan Whiteside chipped in 12 rebounds and three blocks.
With Cousins sidelined, Rudy Gay went off. The veteran forward has struggled lately, scoring 20 or more points just three times since the All-Star break. Gay was aggressive going to the rim, scoring 20 points on 9-for-21 shooting and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Darren Collison provided a spark off the Sacramento bench, dropping in a season-high 26 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Collison was the catalyst for the Kings’ late run as they cut the Heat lead all the way from 24 points to just one in the final three minutes.
NBA
Seth Curry came out firing, scoring 10 points in the first five minutes of the game. He finished the night with 21 points on 5-or-10 shooting, proving once again that he can play at the NBA level.
Rajon Rondo struggled with his shot, but still managed to hand out 10 assists. This was the 50th game this season that Rondo dished out 10 or more assists in a game. Kosta Koufos finished strong again, finishing the game with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in 22 minutes.
STANDOUT PERFORMER -- Green jumped all over the Kings from the opening tip. The Kings have given up plenty of big night’s to secondary players this season and tonight at Sleep Train, it was Green’s turn. While he fell short of matching his career-best of 41, Green was a star Friday night in Sacramento.
TURNING POINT -- The Kings went flat to finish the first quarter and the Heat took full advantage. Miami outscored Sacramento 19-4 over the final six minutes of the opening quarter to take a 39-24 lead into the second. Sacramento made a late run, cutting the Heat lead to one with just over two minutes remaining, but they never led after the wild first-quarter collapse.
INJURY UPDATE -- Omri Casspi left the game in the second quarter grabbing his right hamstring. He never returned and is now listed as day-to-day with a strained right hamstring. Rookie Willie Cauley-Stein strained his left shoulder, but was cleared to return to action. DeMarcus Cousins sat out Friday’s contest due to league suspension after picking up his 16th technical foul in Wednesday’s win over Washington. Marco Belinelli missed his fourth straight game with a sore right foot.
WHAT'S NEXT -- The Kings board a plane for Denver following the game where the Nuggets will be waiting for them for the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday.